Catalan government signs €5 billion industrial pact with employers and unions to regain economic leadership
Salvador Illa sealed a third Pacte Nacional per a la Indústria on Monday, committing up to €5 billion by 2030 to reverse a two-decade decline in manufacturing, train thousands of workers and position Catalonia as a technological frontrunner in Europe.
The signing ceremony
President Salvador Illa, joined by business and union leaders, signed the 2026‑2030 Pacte Nacional per a la Indústria at the Port of Barcelona – a symbol of Catalonia’s export strength. The document gathers 190 measures and an initial €4.5 billion in public funding; all parties pledged to raise the envelope to €5 billion as budgets allow. Conseller d’Empresa i Treball Miquel Sàmper called the pact a “living” instrument that can adapt to geopolitical shocks and economic uncertainty.
Catalonia cannot be understood without its industry. It is part of our history.
Where the money goes
Infrastructure captures one in every three euros planned. The roadmap sets aside €712.5 million for large projects such as new accesses to the Port of Tarragona, works on the AP‑7 motorway and improvements on the C‑17. Another €66.3 million will upgrade public transport inside industrial parks, and €22.3 million will build new hangars at Lleida‑Alguaire airport to attract aerospace companies. A separate €180 million package, managed by the Catalan Employment Service, will retrain jobseekers through programmes customised to the needs of each county.
Five priority sectors
The strategy singles out semiconductors, artificial intelligence, agri‑food, the automotive industry and industrialised housing construction. Sàmper also highlighted defence, electric vehicles and the bid for a gigafactory in Móra la Nova. The plan aligns with the Draghi report’s push for a green and digital reindustrialisation, aiming to raise the gross value added of industry, increase patent registrations and accelerate the energy transition.
- 2006
- 20 %
- 2016
- 18.1 %
- 2026
- 17.2 %
A shrinking industrial footprint
Industry currently contributes 17.2 % of Catalonia’s gross value added, down from 18.1 % a decade ago and close to 20 % twenty years ago. The sector leaves 15 000 jobs unfilled every year because of a shortage of qualified candidates, according to a KPMG study cited by the Government. To close the skills gap the pact bets heavily on vocational training – what Sàmper described as “dual, prestigious vocational education” of the kind that powers large economies – and on reinvesting in traditional sectors such as textiles.
- First Pacte Nacional per a la Indústria signed under President Carles Puigdemont
- Second pact signed under President Pere Aragonès
- Third pact signed under President Salvador Illa
Social consensus
Foment del Treball president Josep Sánchez Llibre welcomed the pact as a generator of “greater added value” and a tool to attract talent. Pimec president Antoni Cañete said the agreement “will be more connected to the reality of Catalonia” and praised the breadth of the consensus. UGT secretary‑general Camil Ros celebrated the continuity of industrial policy and the inclusion of the agri‑food sector, stating it is “not a second‑class industry.”
We want to be the locomotive of Spain and Europe again.
